Here Always

by Kaylen

Meanwhile, at Angel Investigations, Angel paced nervously back and forth in front of the counter.

"Will you, for the love of all things good, sit down?" Cordelia asked, putting her hands on her head.

"Your really giving me a, uh, a-ow!" Cordelia shouted, her head snapping back as she crumbled to the floor in pain.

A fire. An elevator. A man of whom she'd never seen before. He was pushing someone in the elevator, into the fire. It was a woman...it was Buffy.

"Headache," Cordelia finished.

The pain began to lessen as Wesley helped Cordelia to her feet.

"Geez, can you ever NOT be vague?" She asked, looking upward.
"What did you see?" Wesley asked.

"Well, it was short in the way of visions. But, I saw an elevator that was consumed in flames. I think it led down below the pavement outside a really big building. It was too dark for me to recognize where exactly it was. There was a man there and he looked really angry," she said, placing her head in her hands on the counter.

"Do you know who the man was?" Fred asked.

"I've never seen him before and here's the bizarre part, he was throwing Buffy into that elevator," she added.

"Great, more people after me," Buffy said from the doorway of the hotel.

"Buffy, are you okay?" Angel asked, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, great, I'm being followed or watched or something," Buffy said.

She walked past Angel to the grinning infant in the playpen.

"Hey sweetheart," she said, picking Conner up.

"What do you mean? Who's following you? Your having too many 'or's', pick one," Cordelia said, grabbing the bottle of Advil from under her desk.

"I mean Wolfram & Hart, they know what I am and if they are watching me then they are watching everyone in this building," Buffy replied, gently rocking Conner in her arms.

"You know, you should have put him to bed a few hours ago, it's late," Buffy commented on the yawning infant.

"How do they know who you are?" Angel asked.

"How do you think?" She answered, narrowing her eyes.

"Your father," he said, feeling a pang of guilt.

"Angel, the people I heard talking, they sounded like they had just found out about it. They couldn't have known long, so does that mean that they are watching me or you?" She asked, sitting down with a sigh.

"If it's Wolfram & Hart, they are probably watching me and just stumbled on to you," he concluded, sitting next to her.

"They were scared to tell him, fearing for their lives," she said, looking down at the ground.
"Maybe he is a monster," she added under her breath.

"Buffy, I'm sorry," Angel said, taking her free hand in his.

"No, you were right," she relented. "I was wrong."

She gently sat Conner in Angel's arms and walked slowly upstairs to her room.

Behind her door, she threw herself at her bed and forced her eyes shut.

She didn't want to be awake anymore, it was these moments that made her not want to be on earth.

Downstairs, Angel began to pace once more with Conner in his arms.

"Take him, I'll be back in a little while, don't leave until I'm back. Buffy needs some sleep," Angel said as he headed towards the weapon's cabinet.

"Where are you going?" Fred questioned.

"I'm going to pay Wolfram & Hart a visit," Angel said, handing Conner to Wesley and headed out the door.

"You know this isn't going to end well," Cordelia noted.

"No, I doubt it," Wesley agreed.

"I sure hope he doesn't get himself killed," Fred said.

"I think that would just further upset Buffy," she added.

Buffy looked down at the small group.

"This is not good," she said silently to herself.

"Not good at all."

She waited up, not sure of what time it was. She hardly felt like glancing over.

4:56AM.

She reached over and grabbed her cell phone from her purse and quickly dialed a phone number.

"Yeah, what do you want?" A british voice said, sounding grumpy.

"Nice to hear from you, too," Buffy said, rolling her eyes.

"Slayer, do you know what bloody time it is?" Spike said, letting out an unnecessary yawn.

"Thought you were suppose to be up," she said, laughing at his sleepy state.

"I just wanted to check on everyone," she added.

"Little bit is fine with the witch," he said, knowing that was what she was asking.

"Thanks, I worry without me being there," she said, letting out her own yawn.

"Tired? Hope you haven't been shagging the resident vampire," he said, knowing just what to say to anger her.

"Jealous?" She said grinning.

"Night Spike," she said, hanging up before he had a chance to respond.

She heard commotion downstairs. She lazily rolled out of her bed and headed to find out what it was.

She saw Conner sleeping soundly in his play pen and the small group, with the exception of Wesley who had fallen asleep on the couch, huddled around Angel.

She ran down the stairs and gently pushed them aside.

Angel sat there wounded, a few deep cuts and a crossbow arrow sticking into his abdomen.
"Cordelia, get me the first aid kit and do me a favor," Buffy said.

"What's that?" She asked, sitting the small white box on the counter beside Buffy.

"Get Conner's bag and take him home with you and I'll get him before noon," she asked, silently begging her to take him.

"Um, sure," she replied.

Buffy waited after everyone left. After they saw the look of anger on her face, it didn't take them long to hurry out the door.

Angel looked at her, "Buffy," he began.

He was stopped by her slapping him hard.

"What the hell was that for?" Angel yelled, standing up in front of her.
"Why do you think?" She argued back.

"You could have been killed? What were you thinking? Damn it, are you just brain dead?" She added, backing away and turning her back to him.

"I was thinking that if in some small amount I could do anything to protect you and my son, I would without a doubt," he said, his voice shaking with emotion.

"What did you do?" She asked, her voice lowered considerably.

"Went to Lilah," he said, sitting back on the stool in front of the counter. He opened the first aid box and sifted through it.

"Lilah?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah, she's the resident snitch over at Wolfram & Hart. She has a tendency to let some things slip when her life is in jeopardy," Angel said, unbuttoning his bloody and dirty shirt.

"Yeah, I met her," she said, pushing Angel's hands down and finish unbuttoning his shirt.
"You did? When?" He asked.

"When I went to the firm, the secretary wouldn't let me see my dad and she showed me where his office was," Buffy said, pulling out a few bandages.

"What did you find out?" She asked.

"Basically, that something very big is going on. She wasn't very forthcoming with details, but I don't know how safe we are here," he said, watching her tiny hands tend to his wounds.

"Maybe I could call Tara, she's a pretty powerful witch, she could bide us some time," Buffy suggested.

"Willow could help, too," Angel added.

"No, no, she's not going to help with magic," Buffy insisted.

"Whatever's coming is coming soon," Buffy added.

"What?" He asked, his eyes widening.

"My dad, he said his bosses were coming tomorrow for a meeting. If he's as evil as you say he is...I can't imagine what his bosses are like," Buffy said, a sad look graced her face. She looked down. Just the thought of being killed or even threatened by her own flesh and blood was enough to make her break down and cry.

"I will make sure nothing happens to you," he said, lifting her chin so she could meet his eyes.

"I know," she said, "when I count to three, I'm going to pull the arrow out."

She tilted her head to the side and wrapped her hand around the protruding arrow in his gut.
"One...Two..."

With one quick pull, she removed it.

"Damn it, I knew you were going to do that," he howled, doubling over in pain.

"Sorry, had to get it out," she said ruefully.

She dropped it on the floor and began to tend the the bleeding hole in Angel's abdomen.
"Does it hurt?"Buffy said, applying more pressure.

"Just a little," he grunted.

"Does this help?" She asked, pressing her lips to his briefly.

He looked up, giving her a small smile.

"Yeah, but it still kinda hurts," he said, offering her a pathetic pout.

She leaned into him, avoiding his injuries and trying not to cause more pain. She met his cool lips with hers. He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer to him.

She pulled away with a sigh, her forehead still in contact with his.

"I hope this works out," she said, her voice conveyed uncertainly.

"It will," he assured her.

"Yeah, well, I don't wanna die," Buffy said smiling, "again."

An hour later in Sunnydale, Tara reached to put the phone back on it's cradle.

She sighed, her mind flying a mile a minute. She quickly reached for a large, leather-bound book and put her hand over it.

"Perscruto," she said.

A bright light illuminated the room. The book's pages flipped fast, suddenly stopping on a page.

The page bore a symbol of cross with demons grasping it.

'That doesn't exactly look good,' Tara thought to herself.

"Through a Warrior and Evil, a child will be born of light and darkness," Tara read aloud. "He will be proclaimed 'The Miracle Child', but will only live until the moon turns to blood and the Master of all Destruction reaches the surface of the Earth."

"Oh, God," she breathed. She picked up her car keys, the book, and yelled for Dawn.

"What? I'm doing my Algebra," she yelled from the other room.

"Don't worry about it, your going to be missing a few days of school," she said, impatiently waiting for the teenager.

"Why?" Dawn asked, grabbing her jacket.

"We need to get to L.A. fast."

"Your serious?" Buffy asked, incredulously.

"Your saying this baby is going to die when 'The Master of all Destruction' comes to town?" Buffy shook her head, it didn't make sense. Then again, what really did?

"Are you sure?" Angel asked.

"This book is never wrong. I even went through several other volumes, they all said the same thing about it," Tara confirmed.

Buffy sunk down into Cordelia's couch. Dawn sat next to her, resting her arm on Buffy's shoulders.

"Buffy, we'll figure this out," she consoled.

"Yeah, I'm sorry you had to come and get involved with this Dawnie, you really shouldn't have to deal with this," Buffy said, lifting her head from her hands.

"It's okay, it is, maybe we could visit dad or something. Maybe that will get your mind off of this," Dawn suggested.

Buffy's eyes widened. She had forgotten to tell her, she wasn't even sure if she could. True, they had both lost mom, but Dawn couldn't deal with losing dad, too.

Angel cast a sad glance towards Buffy, then a sympathetic one towards Dawn.

"I should call Giles, he could help. We need help," Buffy said, avoiding Dawn's eyes.
"What about until then?" Cordelia piped in.

"Cordelia's right. We can't stay at the hotel, we're being watched," Buffy said.

"If you give me 'till tomorrow, I can seal it with a protection spell, but if they are as powerful in witchcraft as you say, I'm not sure how long it will protect us," Tara said, leafing through her books.

"That's good, we need to bide as much time as we can until we figure out what we can do," Angel said, as he began to pace once again.

"Wait, evil coming...oh, my God! Dad said that his boss was coming tomorrow," Buffy said, mimicking Willow's 'ah-hah' moment.

"What about the moon turning to blood?" Tara reminded the group.

"Um, we could get Fred or Wesley to look into that," Cordelia suggested.
"I'll go call them," Buffy said, walking out of the room.

"Good, what do we do until then?" Cordelia asked.

"I guess all we can do is wait and see what happens," Dawn replied.

"Conner might not have the luxury of seeing what happens," Angel said, sadly looking at his infant son.

*Buffy's POV*

The last few weeks have been an extreme disarray. Tara's book led us to believe that the coming of my father's boss wasn't the big scare, it was the fact that they stayed.

Spells. Rituals. Everything I was born to face, born to fight, and born to die for. Thinking back on things, I can grasp a fraction of what Angel is feeling. My own sister was endangered by a spell to open Hell. I died saving her and I'll die again if it means Angel and Conner get to live.

I tried to keep in touch with him, but it ended up with me playing message tag with his secretary. He's been dodging my calls and he mysteriously just steps out when I stop by unannounced.

Even Lilah didn't know what was going on, though I know she's probably looking to find some way to use me to make her look good. So she doesn't die.

The funny thing about that is that she's scared of the same man that would sing me songs to get me to sleep. My father, there is so much I was mad at him for. He was never there when I needed him. Now, he's dead to me. That's how Dawn put it. She gave me such a pained look when I told her. She lost mom, then me, now our father. She doesn't deserve this and I will do anything for her to make it better.

We put up spell after spell to help guard us against whatever evil was coming after us, after Conner. Tara, Fred, and Wesley have been researching any explanation of Conner's presence and connection with Hell and evil. We're still batting zero in that department.

As for Wolfram & Hart, Lorn, this really creepy green guy, found camera's all over the hotel. We got rid of them fast. Which means they've lost track of us. At least I know they only found out about me on a technicality.

Me and Angel have kept our hands off each other...most of the time. No one knows about our little stolen kisses here and there, I guess it's best to keep it that way. He's going through something pretty tough, I don't want to make things harder for him. When all of this is over, we'll probably just part our ways like we've always done. I'll never fit into his life, I'll only mess it up more.

"Hey, spaced out much?" Cordelia scoffed. She was reading a large book, it's pages brittle and aged to an amber color.

"Sorry," I replied, staring back down at my own book. This was getting to be a routine. Wake up, find an old dusty book, search it for hours, sleep, and do it all over again. If I was lucky, food would be put in there somewhere.

I leaned back against the counter, books sprawled out all around me on the floor.
"Have you found anything?" I asked to no one in particular.

A chorus of 'no' and 'not yet' filled the room.

I pushed myself to my feet and headed up towards Angel's room. Mostly, everyone kept away from there. Angel had told everyone he was training and researching on his own.
I ignored the looks I was receiving from the group downstairs and pushed his door open.
"Angel?" I called out to the dark room.

I headed for the light switch but I felt Angel's hand stop me.

"Don't," he said quietly.

"Angel, are you okay?" I asked, "You've been up here for the past two days."

"I found something," he said, turning on a small lamp beside his bed.
He sat down, motioning for me to sit down.

"Read this," he pointed to the passage.
The text was written funny, maybe it was in Latin.

"Angel, can't read this," I told him.

"Sorry, it says stuff about Conner," he started.

"Well, is he meant for good or evil?" I asked, urging him on.
"Either," he answered simply.

"Wha-huh?" I asked, incredulously.

"Depends on who gets their hands on him," he said, burying his head in his hands.

"Angel, we will never let them get their hands on him," I said, mustering up as much bravery for him as possible. I lifted my hand and rested it gently on his shoulder.

"You don't understand, Buffy, you just don't," he said softly, lifting his head. A single tear fell from his deep brown eyes. I wiped it away with the pad of my thumb, my heart breaking a little.

"I may not know exactly how you feel, but I died saving someone I loved. I know how it feels to be faced with something like this," I said.

"Just, you don't have to face all this all by yourself. You've got me," I said, slipping my hand into his.

I leaned over, crazed by temporary insanity, and placed a kiss on his cheek.

Which, of course, led to him on top of me on his bed, engaging in a hot make-out session. I should have known better, but I guess I just didn't care.

Maybe he just needs this right now, needs to know how much I care.

"Hey, we found -," Fred said, but stopped mid-sentence, her mouth left agape.

Angel rolled off of me and onto his feet. He opened his mouth to say something, but she had already shut the door and had ran down the stairs.

I peered up at him, still lying on my back on his bed.

"Angel, I'm sorry," I said, pleading with him silently not to be mad at me for Fred walking in. Maybe it was a stretch to think that, but I just know that this is going to end. I just don't want it to end so quickly.

"Don't apologize, I'm so happy you came up here," he said, offering me a smile.

"I just...I thought that you didn't want them to know about whatever it is we've been doing," I said.

He stared at me for a moment, not saying a word. Silently, he took my hand in his. We quietly made our way downstairs, ready for whatever they had found. Whether it was good or bad, I assured Angel I will still be here for him and will protect Conner with my dying breath.

"What did you find?" Angel asked calmly.

"We found more on the purpose of a child born from good and evil. It says in this volume that both side of nature will try to get Conner. The good side will gain a warrior which will guarantee the survival of the world. If the evil side gets him, they'll use his supernatural power, which is basically his presence, to open up Hell. Once it starts, nothing will stop it," Tara said, looking at the poor child lying on top of a small blanket.

"I'm guessing with the coming of this evil boss guy would pretty much mean they need to get their hands on him. Maybe it's only a certain time they can open it up," I suggested.

"Exactly, the night when the moon turns to blood is also known as Hell Su Terra, meaning Hell on Earth," Wesley supplied.

"Any idea on when this thing is going down?" I asked.

"Two days from now," Tara said sadly.
I looked to Angel, but he looked away.

**

"In less than 48 hours, this firm will endure it's last struggle with finding the power we seek. One small detail is missing," Hank said to the many employees, who sat quietly in the board room.

"The damn child!" He screeched, slamming his fists down on the table.

"Lilah," he said more calmly. "Tell me about this one vampire that has eluded this firms grasp for the past three years."

She hesitantly stood up and looked down at the table.

"What did you want to know, sir," she asked, a silent prayer she learned when she was five ran through her head.

"You are jointly the head of Special Projects, are you not? Tell me how you plan to stop him and get the kid," Hank said, turning his swivel chair to face her.

"Well, uh, sir. The surveillance systems my partner took upon himself to put in the hotel where Angel is currently staying has been terminated," she said, giving Gavin a smug look.
"And?" Hank said, a little more impatiently.

"We've decided to take a different approach to getting to Angel," Lilah began.

"We've received word that he's gained access to the powers of a witch who has put up very strong barriers against any outside force. Before the cameras went down, we were able to identify everyone who is aiding the vampire, his friends," she said, her voice still quivering.

"Excellent, and where are these profiles on his allies?" He asked, drumming his fingers on the stained wood of the table.

"Um, I have them right here," she said, grabbing a few manila folders and handing them to him.

"Uh-huh," he said, looking through Cordelia's file.
"We can affect this girl directly with any spell you see fit to toss at her. Our main plan was to bring her to the brink of death, causing them to remove the barrier in order to seek help," she said, knowing he was nearing Buffy's file, which was residing at the bottom.

"Which girl would it happen to be?" He said, opening the last folder.
"Buffy Summers," she said calmly.

Hank looked down at the picture of his daughter and turned to face the large window.
"Sir?" Lilah asked.

"Continue with your plan," he said coldly.

"Don't you think they would be doing more to get to us?" Buffy said, receiving many odd looks from the people scattered around the room.

"Hey, I'm happy that no one has managed to mess with us. It's just, how is it just one witch's protection spell can keep ancient evil from getting in? And with the major sources they have, why couldn't they have brought it down themselves?" Buffy asked inquisitively.

"Buffy's right, why aren't they coming after us?" Tara asked, agreeing with Buffy's observation.

"Maybe they already have," Wesley said.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Buffy asked.

"They had surveillance up in the hotel for more time than we are aware of. They could have identified us, they could be going for family or friends," Wesley rambled on.

"That's enough," Angel said sternly, cutting him off. Everyone peered at him in silence, startled by his abrupt reaction to their conversation.

The silence was broken by a soft moaning sound. The sound, which was coming from Buffy, became louder as she cried out in pain.

"Oh, that's not good," she breathed as she collapsed to the ground.

"I think we know how they are coming at us," Cordelia said, as Angel and Tara helped Buffy onto the couch in the middle of the room.

Lilah furrowed her eyebrows as she looked to the small scene in front of her.

Three cloaked figures were knelt before a large statue, speaking in a strange language.
"What are they doing?" Lilah whispered over her shoulder to her partner.

"It's a spell that slows the heart and the body until the subject of the spell is no longer able to live," Gavin said, wearing a smug smile.

"Is she okay?" Fred asked, keeping her distance from the scene.

"She's alive, which is good. She's unconscious though," Wesley reported.
"Could it be a spell?" Cordelia asked.

"It could be natural," Tara answered. "I think she needs a doctor."

"We can't, you take down the barrier, you give them the chance to get Conner and kill us," Angel said, looking down at Buffy.

"What we can't do is just let her sit there and die," Dawn said from the staircase.

"Dawnie, we aren't, we just need to make sure it's safe," Tara said, trying to calm the dramatic scene.

"Angel," Wesley started.

"No, Buffy is strong, she can deal with what they are doing. If you take the barrier down, she won't be the only one dying," Angel repeated.

"Angel," Wesley said again.

"What?" He demanded.

"Her pulse is getting weak," he said.

"Open a door," Angel demanded.

"Are you sure?" Tara asked cautiously, as to not anger him further.

"Yes, immediately close it after I'm out," he answered.

"Your going to take Buffy to the hospital?" Tara responded.

"No, I'm going to stop it from the source," he said with finality, grabbing his black duster.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Wesley asked, kneeling beside the couch.

"They went after my son, now they are going after her. I'm bringing them down before they kill them both," he said, heading for the door.

"Dehisco," Tara said as she waved her hand, watching him leave.

She calmly walked to the door and said, "Claudo."

"D-do you think it was wise of him to do that?" Tara asked.

"Probably not," Wesley said, looking once more to the unconscious body.

Tara shook her head, "I just don't see how they did this."

"You said it could be natural," Cordelia reminded.

"But, under these circumstances," Tara began, "it's a little more than unlikely."

"It's just that if the spell I used could keep them out, I thought that it would be almost imperative for them to be in contact with Buffy to cast a spell."

"Yes, that would make sense, but not every spell is based on actually contact. There are a number of them that can be cast with only thoughts," Wesley answered.

"Yeah, that's true, maybe I could do something to protect them both?" She suggested.
"A personal protection spell?" Fred supplied.

"Perhaps, I'll help you look for a spell that would suit these conditions," Wesley said, getting up from the floor, heading slowly off to the heap of books on the counter.

He made his way slowly through the dark alley that led to the renowned building of Wolfram & Hart.

He was crazed by anger and apprehensive with worry over Conner and Buffy. Nothing mattered more to him than their safety, even if the cost would be his.

He heard the noise of struggle further down the alley followed by a shriek.

"No, let me go," a young woman screamed out. Her frightened eyes darted back and forth as the vampire sunk his fangs into her neck.

Angel quickly ripped the vampire from the girl, telling her to run as fast as she could.
"I've heard about you," the fledgling said.

"You kill our kind," he added.

"Not today, I've got other plans," Angel said.

Gavin's assistant ran down the hall quickly, looking at his feet, hoping he wouldn't trip.
"Boss," he said, knocking on the unmarked door.

After no answer, he twisted the knob and entered cautiously.
"Boss?" He whispered.

"What is it? Can't you see we are busy," Gavin said, gesturing at the figures chanting.

"I know, sir. I'm sorry, but there has been a vampire breach," he sputtered out.

Grabbing Lilah, Gavin headed out the door and quickly down the corridor.

"What the hell are you doing?" She demanded.

"It's Angel, we have to get somewhere away from what's making his little girlfriend die," Gavin said, pushing her into her office, locking the random assortment of locks that ran up and down the panel beside the door.

He turned on the light.

"Hello Mr. Parks," Angel said, tightening his grip on Lilah's neck.

"Angel, good of you to come," he answered, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

"Yeah, I decided, well, you guys have been busy. I thought maybe a visit from a good friend would do you good," Angel said, growling in Lilah's ear, causing her to whimper.

"Is that so?" Gavin replied.

"You know that it's only a matter of time before security finds you," he added.

"Yes, I know, so I might want to get a move on things. You are going to stop whatever spell you decided to use on Buffy," Angel said, closing his hand tighter around her throat.

"Why would I do that?" Gavin said, attempting any kind of bravery.

"Because you know the second I snap her neck, yours will be next," Angel warned.
"Good reason," Gavin squeaked.

He followed Gavin through the silent hall into a small corridor with many unmarked rooms.
"What is this place?" Angel asked, never seeing this part of the building.

"Place where the rituals are held," Gavin supplied.
Opening the door at the end, he told the cloaked figures to cease their chanting.

Unsatisfied with Gavin's orders, Angel threw Lilah at Gavin, causing them to both sink to the ground. He went into the room, twisting the necks of the four figures in the center of the room.

A man clapped behind him, causing him to turn around.

"Well done, Angel," the man said.

"Mr. Summers," he acknowledged.

Tara chanted furiously as Buffy's breathing continued to slow.

Tara finished and looked with concern at Buffy, who was still laying unconscious on the couch.

Without warning, Buffy opened her eyes and inhaled sharply.

Dawn ran from the stairs and hugged Buffy tightly.

"I'm so glad your not dead," she said quietly.

"Me, too," Buffy said as she stood up and looked around.
"Where's Angel?"

"It's too late, you won't be able to get him in time," Angel taunted.
"Yes, that's true, but I will be able to kill you which is still something to be proud of," Hank said, a cocky smile spreading across his face.

Angel threw a punch, but Hank grabbed his wrist and they tumbled into the main corridor.
Angel freed his wrist and pushed Hank down the hall.

He scrambled to get up and quickly ran. Angel followed after.

Frantically, Hank reached his office and ran in. He began to lock his door, but a soft growl behind him caused him to freeze.

"How did you get here so quick," Hank whispered.

"I'm a vampire, what'd you expect?" Angel said, now in game face.

Hank slowly turned around and ran right into him and into the window of his office.

Buffy ran a quickly as her weak legs could carry her. She finally reached the front of the the tall building.

She reached for the door, but pulled away when she heard a loud crash. She ran towards the side of the building and was nearly sick at the sight she saw.

Two figures piled in a bloody mass, unmoving.

She carefully walked towards them, her legs even more unstable than they were minutes before.

She reached out her hand to see if they were both dead and was startled by a sudden jerk from one of the figures.

Angel groaned slightly as he pushed himself off the ground.
"Angel?" Buffy squeaked out.

He rushed over to her and saw her eyes grow wide.
"Is that..." she whispered.

"I'm sorry," he consoled.

He put his arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her from the bloody scene.
"You think that's what it take to kill me?" Hank spoke strongly.

Before Angel could turn around, Buffy had already been yanked from his grasp.

A spot in the pavement lifted to form an elevator, it dinged at the doors opened.

Hank slammed his daughter roughly into the elevator wall and pressed the button.

Angel ran to get her out, but he was stopped by a hard punch to the stomach. He sunk to the ground watching the elevator disappear in flames.

Buffy woke up, slightly groggy from the blow the the head she had received. She stood up and looked around. She was in an elevator.

She remember Cordelia's vision, she knew she had to get out. She searched frantically for any kind of buttons or exits. She stopped her search when her eyes fell upon a small door at the top of the ceiling.

Angel got up, fueled with rage.

"What? You thought you were good enough for my little girl?" Hank said, mockingly.
Angel jumped to his feet.

"No, sir, but did you think you were?" Angel said, knocking Hank off of his feet.

He began to land kick after kick and punch after punch into Hank, nothing but pain driving him on.

Hank laid beaten on the ground, gathered into a fetal position.
Angel looked over at the empty elevator shaft.

He nearly fell unconscious when he saw a small hand grab the pavement.
"Buffy," he breathed, running over to the shaft.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her up. They landed with a thud on the cool sidewalk.
Buffy was nearly out of breath when she saw the nearly dead figure picking himself off the ground.

She jumped off Angel and looked to the man who used to be her father.

He ran towards her. When he reached her, she threw him towards the elevator shaft and he fell in.

His loud screams could be heard until the shaft disappeared and the pavement flattened out.
She stood there, unable to move. Angel just stared at her.

"So, everything is okay?" Tara asked.

"Right as rain, whatever that means," Buffy said.
She threw the last bit of her clothing in a box.

"So, what now?" She asked.
"Well, me and Angel are getting outta the hotel. He's still working here, but he wants to be able have a backyard to watch Conner play in," Buffy said, smiling at the thought.

"You guys are back together now?" Dawn asked from the hall.

"Yeah, despite what we've went through, I know he'll always be here for me, and vice versa," she said, hauling the last box downstairs.

END.